‘The Voice’: Ariana Grande Deleted Twitter Off Her Contestant’s Phone to Stop Fan Harassment
The Voice coach Ariana Grande likely knows firsthand how overwhelming Twitter can be. With more than 84 million followers on the social media site, the pop star’s account is typically flooded with fan responses — both positive and negative. So, Grande encouraged some of her team members on The Voice Season 21 to take a Twitter break when needed, and she even deleted the app from one singer’s phone. According to Ryleigh Plank, a Team Ariana contestant who reached the Top 13, the “Thank U, Next” singer took matters into her own hands when Ariana’s fans started harassing Ryleigh.
Ariana Grande and Ryleigh Plank became close during the singer’s time on ‘The Voice’
Ryleigh joined Team Ariana during season 21’s Blind Auditions with a powerful rendition of Demi Lovato’s “Anyone.” The 20-year-old Florida native brought Ariana to tears with her performance. Ariana and coach Kelly Clarkson both turned their chairs for Ryleigh, but the singer ultimately joined Ariana’s team.
Since then, Ariana and Ryleigh have formed a close bond; they frequently posed for fun photos together during rehearsal and outside The Voice soundstage. The young contestant made it to the Top 13 with Team Ariana. Then, on Nov. 16, Ryleigh was eliminated after an Instant Save performance of Ariana’s “Dangerous Woman.” Although she’s left the competition, Ryleigh seems to still be in touch with Ariana and her former teammates.
Why Ariana Grande deleted Twitter off Ryleigh Plank’s phone
Some of Ariana’s fans have tried to take advantage of Ryleigh’s relationship with her former coach. The singer revealed on Twitter that some people had flooded her business email with requests to pass messages onto Ariana.
“Please use my business email for business inquiries only,” she tweeted on Nov. 19. “And not for […] using me to send things to Ariana.”
Ryleigh also shared a voice message revealing that fans have asked for personal information about a “friend,” presumably Ariana.
“My friends deserve the same amount of privacy u and everyone else deserves!!! Even if u love them n support them n feel like u know them!!! Pls be considerate thank u ily,” she wrote in another tweet.
According to Ryleigh, these requests got to the point where some fans threatened self-harm if Ryleigh didn’t convey messages to Ariana.
“Not people threatening to do terrible things to themselves if I don’t do what they’re asking of me knowing full well I’ve struggled with those things. The boundaries do not exist [I guess],” she wrote.
The tweets came after Ryleigh explained that Ariana deleted Twitter from her phone in an effort to help Ryleigh ignore the harassment. However, she wanted to return to the app to communicate with her supporters.
Ryleigh Plank hit back at fans who criticized her song choices on ‘The Voice’
Ryleigh has also used Twitter to defend herself against The Voice viewers who disagreed with her song choices. As seen above, she posted a video of a casual performance of “Dangerous Woman” to compare to her rendition on stage.
“Here’s me singing ‘Dangerous Woman’ when I’m not on [five] hours or less of sleep every night and having to push through vocal + physical exhaustion every single day for weeks,” she wrote.
Despite some of the negative responses to her page, Ryleigh assured fans that she appreciates those who support her.
“I love u all so much <3 thank u for being respectful & kind & loving & supportive & for spreading that energy to my pages n beyond I LOVE U forever,” she wrote.
How to get help: In the U.S. and Canada, text the Crisis Text Line at 741741 to reach a crisis counselor for support.
